The Bengal government has appointed Krishna Gupta, a 1991-batch IAS officer, as the new state election commissioner (SEC), a post that has remained vacant since former chief secretary Rajiva Sinha completed his stint in September last year.
Gupta will take charge as the SEC after he retires from the civil service on June 30.
He will oversee the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls in December. Similarly, elections to several other civic bodies will have to be held as chairpersons from the Trinamool Congress resigned since the BJP won the Assembly polls in May.
"The post of the SEC had been lying vacant for nearly nine months. The new SEC will have to take up tasks like delimitation of wards before the KMC polls are held in December. This is why the new government appointed Gupta as the SEC without further delay," said an official.
Elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Assemblies are held under the supervision of the Election Commission (EC) and the chief electoral officers of states. The state election commission holds polls to the three-tier panchayats and civic bodies.
A section of the officials said Gupta, known to be an upright officer throughout his career, would face several challenges as the SEC.
He has to restore the image of the state poll panel, which was tarnished because of the previous government's regular interference in the election process.
Sources said the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government always wanted to hold local polls in its own way, as the party wanted to win all elections. The previous SEC used to be kept under pressure to give undue advantage to Trinamool. The situation had turned so grave that Trinamool had won more than 12 per cent of the rural bodies uncontested in the 2023 panchayat polls.
"The SEC remained silent when the ruling party cadres flexed their muscles across the state and prevented Opposition candidates from filing nominations. The picture was no different in civic polls. Now, it remains to be seen whether the image of the state poll panel changes with the change of power in the state," said a source.
The SECs, who had tried to hold the local polls free and fair, had faced the wrath of the Trinamool dispensation.
"Mira Pandey was the first SEC who had fought against the Trinamool government after the state refused to deploy central forces during the 2013 panchayat polls. She had moved to Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court against the state government's decision. Finally, central forces were deployed following a Supreme Court order. Another SEC, Sushanta Upadhayay, had to resign from the position after he was harassed by some ministers during the 2015 municipal polls. Thereafter, no SEC dared to do anything that annoyed the ruling dispensation," said a bureaucrat.
The sources said the challenge before Gupta would be to ensure that people could cast their votes without fear and pressure.
"The EC has proved that polls can be free, fair and peaceful in Bengal as no major untoward incident was reported in the last Assembly elections. Now, the state poll panel has to prove that it can hold polls properly too," said another official.
A source said: "The BJP has come to power with a huge mandate. It has people's support and doesn't have to flex its muscles to win polls right at this moment. This is the biggest advantage Gupta will have."